Harris County Loses $113 Million in CDBG Funds Despite 1-Year Extension

10/16/26 – GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham says she is moving $133 Million of Community Development Block Grant funds for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) designated for Harris County to another county.

Here’s how the story unfolded yesterday.

Garcia Pulls CDBG Update from Commissioners Court Agenda

Item 93 on yesterday’s Harris County Commissioners Court Meeting agenda concerned an update on $322 million of HUD CDBG-DR funds that were at risk because of an imminent 2/28/27 deadline.

Two weeks ago, a one-year extension from the Texas General Land Office (GLO) gave Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) more breathing room. However, it was not clear whether HCFCD could expend all the money even with the extension.

But before Marcus Stuckett, the new executive director of HCFCD, could answer that question yesterday, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia pulled Item 93 from the agenda. It will now be considered AFTER the upcoming election, on November 12. Hmmmm. That raised some eyebrows!

No one with Harris County or HCFCD could or would tell me why it was pulled from the agenda. And the County refused my Public Information Request for Stuckett’s presentation within minutes. They said the presentation didn’t exist. Never a good sign!

So instead, I sent the request to the GLO. They immediately supplied two letters that explain what happened and what will happen.

Letter #1: Stuckett Request to GLO

On 10/2/26, Stuckett sent a letter to GLO Deputy Director Heather Lagrone. In it, he thanks the GLO for the one year extension, and says that it will give HCFCD time to finish the CDBG-DR projects.

But he also explains that $113 million of the $322 million – more than a third of the total – will not be expended before the extended deadline. The reason: Actual project bids compiled under his predecessor came in lower than initial estimates made for grant-application purposes. Stuckett also references “scope changes” as a reason for the lower-than-expected billing.

To make up the $113 million, Stuckett proposed shifting several Subdivision Drainage projects and/or CDBG-Mitigation Projects to the CDBG-DR budget. Some were already completed.

Letter #2: GLO Reply to Stuckett

GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham replied to Stuckett in a terse, three-paragraph letter dated 10/14/26.

The first paragraph says she is pleased that the extension will give HCFCD time to complete the CDBG-DR projects.

But Paragraph #2 says “Harris County” failed to provide information that it promised “months ago” about swapping projects from the MIT category to DR – a proposal initiated by Stuckett’s predecessor, Dr. Tina Petersen. Stuckett has been in his new job for only about three months.

In addition to the vague timing reference, the generic “Harris County” reference also stood out. Harris County Housing & Community Development and Harris County Engineering also manage CDBG grants. Buckingham did not specify whether HCFCD, one of the others, or all of the above failed to comply.

Paragraph #3 explains that Buckingham will reallocate the Harris County funds to another county because she fears Harris County will eventually fail to complete the projects.

Buckingham does not acknowledge that several of the projects that Stuckett proposed moving from MIT to DR were already completed.

One thing is clear, however. Harris County will lose $113 million of flood mitigation funds.

How We Got Here

It’s important to remember that we would not even be in this position if it weren’t for Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia. He pushed to remove exceptional HCFCD leadership that sold the 2018 Flood Bond and was delivering projects at a record pace through 2022. After pushing that leadership out, he replaced it with an inexperienced, unqualified leader he could control.

And boom. Here we are today. $113 million. Gone.

Precinct 2 residents should remember that on Tuesday when early voting starts.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 10/16/2026

3335 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.